App-ly Common Sense to App Development

Administrator

Posted on 2.28.2013

The amount of time consumers
spend interacting
with mobile apps in the U.S.
is growing. In fact, Flurry Analy
tics report that between
Dec. 2011 and Dec. 2012 that
number grew by 35 percent.
By their measurement, U.S.
consumers are also spending
more time in apps than
on the Web. Does this mean
we should all be racing to
build apps? Well, yes and no.
We look to several industry
experts to gain some common,
yet overlooked, sense
in this app-building journey,
as well as some inspiration.

Questions to Ask Yourself

Do we need an app?

“I’d wager the majority of business needs can be
solved by HTML responsive design, with a mobile-
first mindset,” said Seth Banks, Founder of
Cashboard. “Responsive design lowers the barrier
to mobile and offers more bang for your buck than
building an app for the App Store or Google Play.
Frameworks like Gumby.css make responsive design
dead easy. We leveraged this framework for
our recent redesign, and we’ve seen a huge spike
in conversions since. In my mind, apps are the
realm of software companies. They’re overkill for
your average retailer or Web business.”

What's the user’s incentive to
download and use the app?

“Too many companies build apps that are nothing
but a mini-version of their sales portal, which is
fine if you’re Walmart or Target,” said Ron Rule,
CEO of Coracent. “If you’re selling trinkets from
a shop down by the beach, you don’t need an app,
just a good mobile website.”

How will you monetize
the app?

“There are a number of ways to monetize an application,
but if the customer does not have a
clear plan, or we can’t help them quickly arrive
at one, it is usually a good sign that they shouldn’t
spend money to build it,” said Ryan
Stemkoski, interactive director at Zipline Interactive.

Questions to Ask a Developer

What services do you
specialize in?

“You want to avoid shops that simply
don’t offer the expertise you’re looking for,” said Jay Melone, CEO at DigitalXBridge. “However,
also beware of the shops that promise
everything under the sun. They’ll either be
a large agency with a hefty budget or trying to
be everything to everyone, with no specific area
of expertise.”

What are the prices of past projects?

“Most developers will have a portfolio of their
best apps, so ask them what the cost was of the
ones they’re showing you,” said Rule. “If your
budget is $10,000, it doesn’t matter how great
someone’s $50,000 app was; you need to know
what they can do within your budget.”

B2C App Inspiration

“Uber is a good B2C app, and a great example of
a mobile application that seems simple, but in
fact has a very complex back-end, because it involves
exchanging money and geolocation. For
an app like Uber, an organization should pick
their dev firm very carefully, ensuring they have
experience in this field.”

— Sean Ziolko, Designer at ÄKTA

“Most inspiring B2C app is Square. Accepting
mobile payments is just pure brilliance. This app
makes it easier to set up a store without getting
entangled with usurious and dated payment
processors.”

— Joshua R. Simmons, CEO of Bluebird Interactive

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